Experienced Greaves rolls back the years to orchestrate Bees win at high-flying Chester

The Bees held the upper hand for long periods despite Gavin Stead having an off day with the boot.

Phil Greaves rolled back the years to give his best performance of the season at No 10 as all of his three-quarter line got on the score sheet.

Richard Tafa struck on two minutes but the Bees conceded their sixth interception try of the season to Barry Holmes. Liam McGovern improved the score then exchanged penalties with Stead before Chester second-row Tom Gregory touched down.

With McGovern adding two points it was 17-8 but Stead struck back before the break with a try.

Five minutes into the second half, he pulled his side to within a point with a penalty, then missed two further chances before Giles Hetherington crossed.

It was not until the 77th minute that the Bees could improve their lead, Steve Brimacombe rounding off the scoring.

Darlington MP 29 Sandal 10

SANDAL slipped to a second successive away defeat at Darlington despite taking an early lead.

After losing 28-17 at Waterloo last time out, Sandal knew they faced a stern test against a very physical Darlington outfit. Yet a solid start saw winger Alex Orr score on the overlap.

Park hit back with a converted try to take the lead before Sandal made life difficult for themselves when they were reduced to 14 men following a sin-binning.

In that time, the hosts added a further converted try to lead 14-5 at the break.

Sandal responded with a try from flanker James Stewart, who latched on to a short ball 15 metres out to power home. The conversion hit the post and the same fate occurred moments later from a penalty kick that would have brought the visitors within a point.

Instead, Darlington kicked one of their own to stretch their advantage to 17-10 and they withstood pressure before regaining control in the final quarter, scoring two tries and a conversion.

Morley 5 Altrincham Kersal 17

MORLEY hit a new low with an embarrassing home defeat against bottom-of-the-table Altrincham.

The blow further sapped confidence in what has been a thoroughly disappointing campaign, with just four victories out of 14.

Morley began well, fly-half Ben Johnson producing an inch-perfect kick for winger Simon Bradshaw, who used excellent footballing skills to control the bouncing ball before dropping on it over the line.

The hosts saw plenty of possession but, as has been seen so often this season, they wasted too many chances. After 15 minutes, Altrincham pulled level with a try from full-back James Longville.

After the break, the visiting forwards took the game by the scruff of the neck, gaining the lead on 47 minutes when second row Rich Hutchinson crossed. They put the game out of reach 10 minutes from the end with the forwards rolling a maul into position to add a third try, fly-half Rob Holloway converting to complete the scoring.

Penrith 42 Beverley 12

Beverley went down to a heavy defeat in a match both sides badly needed to win.

After a fine victory the previous week against Rossendale, Beverley performed poorly and their defeat was largely due to basic errors and presenting their opponents with too many scoring opportunities.

Beverley took an early lead with a try by No 8 David Worrall which centre Junior Tupai converted. Carelessness crept into their game and two tries in quick succession by centre James Ellar and winger Jon Fell put Penrith narrowly ahead.

Fly-half Steve Wood added a penalty and then converted an interception try by flanker Gary Hodgson before wing forward Ryan Johnson scored a try and Wood kicked a penalty before the interval.

Facing a stiff wind in the second half, Beverley scored a try in the corner by prop Mike Bradshaw but winger Ed Swale scored another converted interception try for Penrith and, with the last action of the match, substitute flanker James Thornton added a final converted try.

Hull 27 Otley 5

Coach John Widdowson was full of praise for his players after they overcame a series of injuries to record a convincing win .

He said his squad of 25 players had come together very well and had yet again risen to the challenge.

This was amply demonstrated when Hull had to use all their replacments on Saturday but still looked a good side in attack and defence.

From the kick-off, both sides were looking to play open rugby but with turnovers and tough defences forcing the occasional handling errors, fluidity was at a premium.

All this changed in the 17th minute when the ball bounced awkwardly off a Hull player but Ollie Cook gathered the ball and raced through four would-be tacklers on his way to a fine try by the posts which James Cameron had no problem converting.

Otley were quick to respond and it was after one of their moments of pressure near the Hull line in the 30th minute that brought about Hull’s next score.

The ball was turned over in Hull’s favour five yards out and after the pack had driven the ball to near the 10-metre line, Godfrey, Hull’s new centre, made a fine break before sending out a well-executed pass to Will Robinson, who rounded his opposite number to go 40 yards for a fine try in the corner which Cameron could not convert.

Hull’s half-time advantage of 12-0 was improved in the 55th minute when they were able to mount one of their well-drilled catch and drives from a lineout for Devonshire to be credited with the touchdown. Cameron’s conversion attempt was perfect and put Hull in a commanding position.

Hull were now looking good but Cameron went off injured along with half-back partner Jones and Otley sensed a way back.

They responded with a well-worked try for right winger Harris.

The conversion attempt by Baldwin failed and Otley’s hopes proved false as Hull refreshed their pack with Stephenson, Lamping and Stout coming on.

The effect of this injection of fresh legs was another catch and drive try awarded again to Devonshire. Although centre Slingsby was unable to make the difficult conversion he made no mistake with a penalty five minutes later to leave Otley well beaten.